It seems like new social networking technology continues to pop up. Which should you use and follow? Twitter, LinkedIn, blogging, Facebook, Microsoft Live and their social networking features? How do you keep up? HBR has a great online article on the subject, Don’t Keep up with Social Technology:

So I’m here to let you off the hook. If a geek like me — a woman whose idea of a fantastically fun evening is to try out a dozen project management sites — can’t keep up, what hope is there for folks who occasionally want to close their computers and pick up a book?

There is no hope.

You can’t keep up.

Keeping up is about following someone else’s agenda: the bloggers and tweeters who trot out invitations to the latest beta. The marketers, publicists and journalists who blanket us with coverage about the latest hot tech phenomenon. And yes, the tech consultants who charge tens or hundreds of thousands to add new musts to your already long to-do list.

The minute you stop trying to keep up, you open a far more exciting possibility: getting ahead with what matters to you, your team and your business.

The only thing that she missed in the above line – your family and friends. Interesting read. A few more interesting thoughts from HBR online (yes, I am catching up on some reading):

• An 18 minute plan for managing your day where they talk to Jack LaLanne about his rituals:

At the age of 94, he still spends the first two hours of his day exercising. Ninety minutes lifting weights and 30 minutes swimming or walking. Every morning. He needs to do so to achieve his goals: on his 95th birthday he plans to swim from the coast of California to Santa Catalina Island, a distance of 20 miles. Also, as he is fond of saying, "I cannot afford to die. It will ruin my image."

So he works, consistently and deliberately, toward his goals. He does the same things day in and day out. He cares about his fitness and he’s built it into his schedule.

Managing our time needs to become a ritual too. Not simply a list or a vague sense of our priorities. That’s not consistent or deliberate. It needs to be an ongoing process we follow no matter what to keep us focused on our priorities throughout the day

 

I want to live to 95 … but use GTD.

• Why Jerks are Bad Decision Makers: A fascinating article. I had just read the New Yorker article by Malcolm Gladwell on the role of overconfidence in the fall of Bear Sterns, which focuses a lot on their jerk CEO. Fascinating article. The final paragraph summarizes it well:

So what are the mechanisms that translate being a jerk into being a poor decision-maker? Jerks tend to think their own perspectives are the only ones worth considering, but good decisions require serious consideration of alternatives. Jerks think they’re never wrong, but good decisions require acknowledging and learning from mistakes. Jerks are consumed with petty resentments and grievances, but good decisions require clear-headed, objective thinking. Jerks alienate other people, but good decisions require collaboration across a social network (as a recent MIT Sloan Management Review article by Rob Cross and Bob Thomas suggests.) This falls short of a complete description of either jerkdom or decision excellence, but you get the picture.

• Four Rules for Effective Negotiation:  I found the fourth point very interesting. In my house negotiation, the other party walked away .. and came back lower. He made a mistake.

To close or not to close: My partner John Hamel always reminds me that the uber golden rule of negotiation is to always let someone else walk away. Whether you drive too hard a bargain, cannot reconcile on key terms, or feel that the deal is just too rich for your blood, make the offer you want and let the other side walk if they don’t want it. This is not to say to be offensive or to low ball, but rather to be honest, straightforward on what you are willing to do and explain that you understand if it does not work for them and that it is the best you can do. A great example to end on is how John Hamel recently purchased his new home. He had found a unit in a townhouse complex that he liked and was ready to close on it at price x per square foot. That said, he thought he’d take a shot on a larger and more recently renovated unit by advising that owner (who he knew was interested in selling) that he was going to be accepting a price on the other unit in 24 hours, but would take their unit at an even more aggressive price per square foot if they were interested with an immediate close. Remarkable thing, he ended up with the larger unit and one of the best units in the complex.

Tonight I finalize my backyard work, lets see if I can put the above to work.